Exclusive: James Franco on Dating, Fashion Filmmaking, and (Actually) Sitting Still

James Franco isn't slowing down anytime soon—in the past few weeks, the scruffy stud has added fashion directing gigs (first with 7 for All Mankind and then Stuart Weitzman), music ventures (through his band Daddy), and film teaching stints to his already impressive resume, which includes acting, writing (Playboy columns, screenplays, poetry), and more. If that all makes you feel exhausted just thinking about it, imagine what it's like to spend a day in the accomplished Renaissance man's shoes. ELLE.com got the chance to find out more about Franco's hectic schedule and impressive accomplishments when we chatted with him about his romantic life, sartorial choices, and playing Oz in the upcoming film, Oz: The Great and Powerful.

ELLE: You do it all. Seriously. How do you find time to workout, date, and sleep?

James Franco: [Laughs] Um, let's see. Working out—I usually do sit-ups. If I'm working on a film, I'll do sit-ups for before I shoot. Like, 100 in the morning or something. Date…I don't know. I usually work with most of my friends and people I'm seeing. So, that's how I find that time. I get like six or so hours of sleep a night.

ELLE: What sparked your interest in working with fashion brands like 7 for All Mankind and Stuart Weitzman?

JF: It feels like there are a lot of things that crossover between this and what I do in film, whether I'm acting or directing. There are performers, and there are scenarios that we set up. What that means is I get to direct these, you know, little mini-narratives, mini-performances, or mini-films. But they don't have the same kind of pressures or expectations that a feature-length film would have. Meaning, when one directs a feature film, you expect to either put it in theatres to sell tickets or sell it online or on DVD to make money. Here, they're not looking to sell tickets in the same way, or a large number of units, but [rather] they want people to watch it. It opens up the potential for different approaches. There is a product at the center of it, and I've liked all the products that I've been involved with. So, it's not a burden to put the product at the center of our movie or narrative, and then create a story around it. But that story can be much more experimental than something I might do as a feature film.

ELLE: Your next gig is co-teaching a film class with Vince Jolivette at USC. What will your first lesson plan be? Will you be a tough grader?

JF: I teach at a lot of places. It will be similar to my other classes. It's in a film school, so it'll be a production class. I'm just going to be helping the students make films, and I'm going to be bringing in certain resources—participants, like actors and crew, that maybe they wouldn't have access to normally. I will help them make the leap into the professional world of filmmaking.

ELLE: You will be starring as Oz in Oz: The Great and Powerful next year. What do you and your character have in common?

JF: My character—Oscar Diggs is his real name—is a traveling showman magician. He's a performer, so I guess I can relate to that. As far as going to a fantastical land, I don't know [Laughs].

JF: You know, it was fine. The final image is more interesting than the process. Maybe I was supposed to undergo some transformation by having that gold on me. I guess that maybe I was at peace for a moment. They did put honey on me in order to stick the gold on me. So that was strange. I just had to breath deep and get through that part of it. Other than that, I appreciate the idea of [being] a living sculpture, just for a moment.

ELLE: What is your style like? What are you wearing now?

JF: [Laughs] I am appropriately representing all the brands I work with. I'm wearing some 7 for All Mankind jeans, a Gucci leather jacket, and a San Francisco Giants baseball hat. That's because I have time to follow baseball, and I am from the Bay Area—nice to represent. My style is casual-chic? Casual-messy? [Laughs]

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